In Shadow of Betrayal by Brett Battles, Cleaner Jonathan Quinn has agreed to do three tasks, no questions asked, in payment for a favor from his former boss. When the boss comes to collect will the cost to Quinn be too great?

Brett Battles third installment in the Jonathon Quinn series, Shadow of Betrayal is inspired. The plotline generally follows the last installment in the series The Deceived. Quinn (not his real name, of course), a “cleaner” by trade, made a deal with the devil and agreed to do three jobs, no questions asked, for his sometimes employer. Shadow of Betrayal shows the cashing in on those jobs – and they’re jobs that Quinn would rather not take.

In Shadow of Betrayal, Battles also follows up on some of the storylines left hanging from the previous novel — and, as an aside, this is something I really like about Battles. If something has come up in a previous novel, he follows up on it — might take a while but we’re not left guessing.

The main plot line of the book is a minor sideline of what Quinn is asked to do. It’s an accident of fate that he comes back together with the storyline, but it’s all written in such a believable way and the main plot—involving the kidnapping of children for purposes unknown until the end — well, it’s chillingly brilliant.

One thing I especially like about the series is the personal progression of Quinn. He becomes more human, more accessible in a way to the reader — and in Shadow of Betrayal we see this progression in the kind of leap not yet taken.

And for those of you faithful fans who are wondering, we do find out what happens with Nate after the amputation and with Quinn and Orlando — I know a lot of us were more interested to see where Battles would go with Nate and whether you’re happy or not is up to you, but I loved it so when you pick it up and read, let me know what you think. It helps the memory to pre-order, go ahead — do it today.

Was this novel flawless? Few are. There are minor tics that bothered me — things I might have wished to know less about and things I might have wanted to know more. I can tell you that if Battles follows suit, the next book should give us more insight into Quinn and I’m excited to see what comes next.

Are you interested in more books by Brett Battles? Then check out our reviews of Pale Horse and No Return.